This was not your typical fire call. Emergency crews had to use the jaws of life to pry open an apartment door, and the occupant had to be restrained early this morning – all to put out a stovetop fire.
Chatham-Kent police say emergency crews received the call about 2:30 a.m. Friday morning and responded to the call at a Timmins Crescent apartment complex. They arrived to see smoke coming out from under an apartment door.
The resident refused to let emergency personnel enter the unit, so firefighters used the jaws of life to pry open the door, police say.
And as officers entered the apartment, the man poured bleach on them, police say, and then slapped one officer in the face and grabbed a second in the groin.
He wouldn’t co-operate with police or fire personnel and had to be pepper sprayed and apprehended so firefighters could put out the stovetop fire before it could spread.
A 54-year-old Chatham man is charged with mischief endangering life, and two counts of assaulting a peace officer. He was transported to the hospital for a medical assessment.
